Closed Loop Partners maps plastic recycling infrastructure, packaging waste in new tool
The tool is designed to guide investors, brands, entrepreneurs and policymakers to make data-driven decisions and collaborate on plastics circularity, according to the firm.
Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy has released its U.S. and Canada Recycling Infrastructure and Plastic Waste Map, a new tool that is part of the New York City-based company’s broader Advancing Circular Systems for Plastics and Packaging Initiative. Closed Loop Partners says the map “brings to light the diversity of plastic waste and the volumes and flows by country and state, highlighting critical opportunities to recapture valuable plastics and reincorporate them into manufacturing supply chains.”
Paula Luu, a director at Closed Loop Partners, says the firm began working on the map in April in partnership with Resource Recycling Systems (RRS), Ann Arbor, Michigan, and The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia.
She says data for the map were sourced from a blend of reports in the market and proprietary market data from groups that included the American Chemistry Council, Washington; More Recycling, Sonoma, California; the Association of Plastic Recyclers, Washington; Deloitte, with U.S. headquarters in New York; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Container Recycling Institute, Culver City, California; RRS; and others.
According to the analysis, the U.S. and Canada are sending 11.5 million metric tons, or nearly 12.7 million short tons, of plastic packaging to landfills annually. Only 18 percent of plastic packaging is being captured for recycling, despite growing demand for recycled content in plastic packaging. More than 250 brands and retailers in the U.S. have publicly committed to increase recycled content in their products and packaging, the firm says, yet the current supply of recycled plastics meets only 6 percent of the demand for the most common plastics in the U.S. and Canada.
“Indeed, our analysis indicates new demand for recycled plastics will go up by 5 to 7.5 million metric tons by 2030,” Luu says. “It is clear that it will take significant investments and improvements in our recycling systems to ensure that we can meet the demand for recycled content.”
The reason the project began by looking at plastic packaging, she says, is because it “is perhaps the most symbolic and visible manifestation of plastic waste in our day-to-day lives. It’s also the category of plastic that has the most data available in the market.”
She adds, “We chose to explore plastic packaging as a starting point to delve deeper into the different types of plastic, beyond packaging, that aren’t always spotlighted yet are equally challenging. These include bulky rigids, textiles and apparel with synthetic fibers and plastics from construction and health care industries, just to name a few.”
Closed Loop Partners says it has published this map to identify the magnitude of the challenge, the key infrastructure gaps and the areas of opportunity. “By increasing visibility across the plastics value chain, we can drive collaboration among diverse stakeholders—from policymakers and brands to plastics manufacturers and materials recovery facilities,” the firm says in the news release announcing the initiative.
The report highlights the diverse formats, applications and end-of-life markets for plastics, demonstrating the need for multiple solutions, according to Closed Loop Partners.
“The most interesting thing the tool has to offer is really going to depend on which geography and material is of interest to the user,” Luu says. “Every map and visualization is rich with data and key insights. For example, we found that there are 650,000 metric tons (716,502 short tons) of PET thermoforms in the U.S. and Canada. The Southeast has 18 percent of that volume alone.”
Mechanical recycling in the U.S. and Canada recaptures the value of 2,557 million metric tons of plastic packaging after final use per year, primarily from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles, according to the analysis. However, mechanical recycling is not an end-of-life solution for many other forms of plastic waste, like apparel, construction plastics, automotive applications and more, Closed Loop Partners says. This is where “advanced” recycling technology, such as chemical recycling, potentially could fill this gap, addressing these hard-to-recycle plastic-based products.
“We see transparency and measurement as critical first steps toward effective collaboration,” Luu says. “Knowing where materials recovery facilities are located, how much plastic waste is in circulation, what different types of plastic packaging exist and how these can map to populations helps reveal synergies between diverse stakeholders—from recyclers to brands to municipalities. Stemming plastic waste successfully requires a complete picture and understanding of the entire plastics value chain. Right now, we have a team within our Center for the Circular Economy who are leveraging this data to explore how different advanced recycling technologies can help address these unrecovered materials that are not currently captured by mechanical recycling technologies.”
According to Closed Loop Partners, “However, these [advanced] solutions still cannot serve all materials and markets perfectly or in perpetuity, and we must also deploy and scale reuse and rental systems, among others, to help extend the life of materials and reduce the overall volume of virgin plastic entering the market.”
The organization adds, “Without a multipronged approach, plastic waste in all forms, from various industries, will continue to grow.”
Kate Daly, managing director of the Center for the Circular Economy at Closed Loop Partners, says, “To efficiently and effectively tackle all plastic waste, we must first understand the volume and types of plastic flowing through our economy. Using plastic packaging as a starting point, this analysis helps investors, brands, entrepreneurs and policymakers understand the diversity of plastic waste in our system and make data-driven decisions. This tool helps galvanize stakeholders to accelerate our collective journey toward a circular economy for plastics through multiple plastic-waste mitigation strategies, and we call upon additional industries to share their data on plastic waste streams to shed light on the additional opportunities.”
Closed Loop Partners says it is working with groups across the U.S. and Canada to leverage additional data on other plastic materials, which it will add to this dataset to increase transparency and understanding of all types of end-of-life plastic flowing through current systems.
“Foundational to effective action and investment is an informed understanding of where, how much and what quality of plastic waste is being generated in the United States and Canada,” says Anne Johnson, principal and vice president of global corporate sustainability for RRS. “Packaging waste only scratches the surface of the plastic waste problem. Polyester textiles contribute to 13.4 billion pounds of landfill waste in the U.S. and require both traditional and new advanced recycling platforms to recapture their value after use. This data visualization tool can be built upon to shine a light on the full spectrum of plastic waste in existence today, providing much-needed transparency and collectively advancing a circular economy for plastics.”
Peylina Chu, executive director for the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council, St. Paul, Minnesota, says, “We are excited to see this U.S. and Canada Recycling Infrastructure and Plastic Waste Map from Closed Loop Partners. As the health care industry looks for circular solutions for the millions of tons of clean health care plastic, this map helps set a precedent for collaborative efforts along the plastic value chain that can help efficiently identify and leverage synergies between healthcare plastics and other valuable scrap plastic streams as we all add data and share insights on this global waste challenge.”
Image by Dreamstime.
Steel output stays steady in mid-November
Despite rising virus caseload, steelmakers retain production levels in U.S.
The Washington-based American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has reported that in the week ending Nov. 14, steel output in the United States checked in at 1.58 million tons, up 0.4 percent from the previous week.
The stability occurred despite cases of COVID-19 rising to new highs in many states and governments in those states introducing or threatening to introduce additional workplace and social distancing restrictions.
The toll of COVID-19 on the steel sector remains visible, as one year ago in mid-November, more than 1.82 million tons of steel were produced, indicative of a 13.3 percent decrease year on year. Year to date, the U.S. has produced 18.7 percent less steel in 2020 compared with the year before.
For ferrous scrap recyclers, the commitment of steel mills to keep production levels steady is coming at the same time when some forms of scrap generation appear to be dropping.
According to a Nov. 16 report by Fastmarkets AMM, shredder operators in parts of the country are raising their scale prices to try to coax more scrap into yards in an effort to fill anticipated early December orders. Those orders are coming not just from domestic mills but also from eager overseas buyers in Turkey and Asia.
While the supply chase causes one form of aggravation for ferrous scrap processors, the ongoing domestic and global demand has brought with it fourth-quarter price stability that often is missing from a ferrous market known for October and November price drops.
Ultromex lands slag recycling contract
U.K.-based firm says contract will allow it to process Rio Tinto landfilled aluminum slag.
United Kingdom-based Ultromex Limited says it has signed “a major contract” with global mining firm Rio Tinto to remediate a salt slag landfill site in Europe. Ultromex says, together with France-based EJM Hydrovac, it will “excavate, process and re-instate the site in France during the next three years.” The project will result in the treatment of 65,000 metric tons of slag materials, say the firms.
“The signing of this major contract is the result of more than three years hard work by the Ultromex and EJM teams, including a pilot trial which validated and demonstrated to Rio Tinto the effectiveness of our Saltromex process for remediating slag,” says Nigel Seddon, CEO of Ultromex. “The Ultromex plant will be built during 2021 and will be capable of processing the waste at a rate of 18 metric tons per hour.”
Many aluminum smelting byproducts are hazardous in nature and historically were routinely landfilled before the EU and other regions changed regulations to prohibit further landfill, according to Ultromex. Ultromex says it now has a proven solution to resolve this global problem.
Ultromex describes itself as offering a range of technologies to treat and recycle aluminum smelting byproducts and residuals, including dross, salt slag, SPL and filter dusts, either as they arise at the smelter or where they have been stockpiled or landfilled.
Sri Lanka restricts scrap metal exports
Nation’s government cites need to boost domestic metals production.
The government of Sri Lanka reportedly has banned the export of ferrous scrap and several types of nonferrous scrap, including copper, brass, aluminum and stainless steel.
A Nov. 15 online report on the Colombo, Sri Lanka-based EconomyNext website says such exports could still occur following “a recommendation of the Industrial Development Board and ‘other related agencies,’” according to the Sri Lankan government information office.
The website says such regulations and licensing are subject to criticism in the nation as “generally paving the way for corruption,” but the current government says the metals are needed to boost domestic manufacturing.
Sri Lanka has not sold or bought enough ferrous, aluminum or copper scrap in 2020 to show up in data gathered by the United States Department of Commerce and published by the United States Geological Survey.
The Washington-based World Bank lists Sri Lanka’s largest trading partners as including the European Union, the United States, India, China, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
Industrial Service Solutions announces partnership with ZB Group
ISS Recycling Technologies Division will provide sales, service and parts support for ZB Group’s equipment.
Industrial Service Solutions (ISS), Houston, Recycling Technologies division has announced its partnership with ZB Group of Spain to provide sales, service and parts support for ZB Group’s line of recycling equipment, which includes the Thor mobile shredder and preshredders.
According to ISS, this new relationship will help position ZB Group as a leader in heavy-duty recycling equipment for the scrap metal industry.
“The ZB Group Thor shredder line has established itself as the best solution to the scrap metal recycler needing a mobile unit solution throughout the world. Bringing ISS – Recycling Technologies division alongside our efforts for North America for sales and especially service and parts support, backed by our engineering group in Spain and the U.S., puts us in a superior position to grow our position as the leader in mobile shredding technology,” said Ignacio Rivero, ZB Group’s international director.
Known for its breadth and depth in a broad range of industry applications, as well as expertise in multiple equipment types, ISS says it has an unmatched organization throughout North America for supplying and supporting stationary automobile shredders, motors and drive systems, emissions controls, castings and wear parts, the Taurus US line of shears and more.
“ISS – Recycling Technologies continues to add quality products, service and support for a wide range of offerings in the recycling industry. Through our partnership with ZB Group, we’ve added another proven line of recycling equipment to our offerings. The Thor mobile shredder is by far the most superior mobile shredder available. Our experience in shredding, along with our unmatched local support, will continue to expand on the success of ZB Group in North America,” said Bill Tigner, vice president of ISS – Recycling Technologies.
ZB Group North America supports the mobile shredder product line from its Atlanta location through factory technicians and parts warehouse.